


Start of a Dark Road

by c_mellow



Series: Unforeseen Circumstances [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Patience... a lot of patience, change of plans, trickery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 13:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6807805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_mellow/pseuds/c_mellow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Falcone, Black Mask, and their "guest" discuss the final details of their trade, plans of the night change. What was thought to happen, doesn't, and patience is put to the ultimate test when the usual "striking first" style doesn't exactly fit the situation as it was thought to before. Trickery and deception is favored and it doesn't make for a great ending to an already bad night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Start of a Dark Road

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 3 is up. I know I should've posted it forever ago, but I just had to tweak some stuff here and there. Hope you enjoy! And don't worry, our "mysterious figure's" identity is soon to be revealed... not too soon though ;)

**Falcone Shipping Yard**

**April 24, 01:10 EST**

**DAY 2**

            Batman really didn’t know what to expect their “guest” to look like. The only thing he did know was that the image before him wasn’t at all what he thought it’d be. The unknown member of the trio was dressed in all black, a hood atop his head covering half his face, only revealing his mouth. He wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants that was a warrior type outfit; it was fitted with black armor plating and cinched with draping cloth at the waist. The sleeves and pants billowed here and there and his shoes were knee length combatant boots in black as well. His features were indiscernible, except that maybe his height was somewhere around 6’1” and his weight could’ve easily been more or less than 190.

            Whoever he may be, his appearance told whoever viewed him that he was a force to be reckoned with. Batman couldn’t tell if they would get the chance to test that theory tonight or not.

            “I believe the price I gave you two… gentlemen… is more than acceptable. It shouldn’t put too much of a dent in your pocket’s. As for your price tag, I’m still agreeing to it. We ready to make a transaction?”

            Falcone and Black Mask exchanged glances before nodding to each other. Each stuck out their hand as the figure shook them.

            “Yeah, sounds good to me.” Black mask stated with Falcone giving a _humph_ in agreement.

            “Very well.” Their business partner held his right hand up quickly and snapped his forefinger and thumb. Immediately the man to his right produced two black duffle bags. He then proceeded to open them, displaying the cash inside, and zipped them back up. Black Mask and Falcone’s men did the same, and once the cash was exchanged, they waited for the “shipment” to arrive.

Batman looked down at the group below. The body language of the mysterious figure seemed too comfortable; his shoulders were slack, hands wrung together loosely at his lower back, a slight rock on his feet. He was too confident. Why, Batman had no idea.

            “He seem a little too, _smug_ , so to say?”

            “I thought so too. Just be wary.”

            Batman radioed Nightwing. “Nightwing, they’ve given the go to retrieve the trafficked humans. You should be expecting movement and enemies; be ready. Give me a time estimate on your arrival to the bottom deck.”

            “Just about there. I was just about to radio you, we just disabled the engine room with zero resistance. We’re about half way through the levels now. Scanners read that the life forms are still dormant in the cargo crates, but I’m detecting some movement below outside of them. I guess that explains why we’re not encountering anyone, they’re all down there. But I still would’ve liked to kick _something_ on my way to the rest of potential kicking targets. I mean, a ship this size should be milling with people.”

            “Not necessarily. The size is most likely a decoy; probably just chose this thing to hide the cargo below.” Red hood quipped over the comm.  
            “Yeah, that’s obvious, but how do you _manage_ a ship this size? You have maintain the engine, the pressure, the-.”

            “The thing is docked, dipshit. They don’t need to _manage_ anything right now. Hell, the men on this ship that are supposed to maintain it probably have no background in running a ship; probably just more henchmen.”

            “Even a docked ship needs maintenance.”

            “I swear, you-.” Red Hood’s voice was suddenly cut off. Batman expected them to continue bickering, but suddenly static filled his ear.

It was the only sound they heard.

            “Red Hood, repeat.” More static.

            “Nightwing, Batgirl, come in.”

            “Red Robin, do you still copy?”

            A crackle sounded in Batman’s ear. Red Robin spoke uneasily.

            “Yeah, I’m still here. Must be an internal issue. You think the hull of that thing is blocking our signal as they go deeper?”

            “That’s a possibility. Keep trying them, I’m going to descend to access the situation better.”

            “Right.”

            Batman dropped lower onto a cargo crate below, Robin quick to follow. From here, they could easily hear them without amplification.

            “Hey, how much longer is this gonna take? I still got other customer’s to deal with ya know.”

            “Yeah, we gave you the money, now where’s our shipment? You’re not getting ours until you show.”

            The figure chuckled in that deep, monotone voice of his.

            “Patience you two. My men are just rallying up your… delivery… now. I do admit they were a bit riled on the journey over so they may need proper discipline and constraint before they’re brought out. Wouldn’t want them flailing everywhere, now would we? That would just make _everything_ all the more difficult.”

            Batman’s eyes squinted in disgust at the look of pure nonchalance at the figure. His ability to have a lack of remorse and an indulgence in their torture was one of the reasons why Batman did what he did; so that helpless victims didn’t have to suffer anymore then need be. That was why just sitting here, waiting for them to come out instead of interfere because of the possibility that the figure could flee without an identity and have Falcone and Black Mask run with the trafficked humans with them, was so difficult for him. Robin seemed to feel the same way based on his nervous movements beside him.

            “Father, I don’t like just sitting here. This is taking too long.” _Like father like son._

            “I hate to quote the bad guy on this, but patience. Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood are headed down to the bottom deck below. They’ll stop the perpetrators there and rescue the trafficked humans. Once we get confirmation on that, we can take action. We can’t risk initiating a fight with them without a chance that they’ll all run. When they’re handling the situation below, I’ll call Red Robin in to help with the situation out here. Just hold out until then, this is a great test of patience for you. You think you can handle this?”

            “Pfft- admittedly yes. So we’re just waiting on the three to get done?”

            “Essentially. Red Robin, have you been able to get in contact with them?”

“Not a word. I’ll keep trying to patch through. You can give it a go if you’d like.”  
“I’ll try them now. Nightwing, am I getting through?”

A slight whispering of words came through at the other end.

“I didn’t catch that Nightwing. Keep talking.”

“Bat-an, ca- you r-ad m-?” Nighwing’s voice sounded faintly in his ear.

            “Nightwing repeat. I’m reading you but just barely.”

            “Ho-d on le- me ju-t tak- care o- th-s. Okay, how’s that?”

            “Clear. What’s happening?”

            “I thought the connection problem was just from the ship, but for reasons I don’t know, there was an EMP emitter on board just before we got to the bottom deck. I disabled it. When I located it, I sent Batgirl and Red Hood to continue down. There was an increase in movement and I didn’t want to waste any more time. I’m on my way to their location now.”

            “Confirmed.”

            “Batman do you read? This is Batgirl. Red Hood is with me, the comm’s went out for a bit.”

            “I can hear you. Nightwing took out the EMP emitter. Have you reached the bottom deck?”

            “Affirmative. Hood is trying to get the light’s on now. There's no sign of any perpetrators in sight, but the life forms are strongest here.”

            “Red Hood here, I found the electrical panel. Raising the light’s now.”

            In the background, Batman could hear the slow flicking of the industrial light’s coming to life one by one.

            “Alright time to rescue these people.” The sound of the cargo crate door swinging open sounded over the comm. Steady silence followed.

“No. _No no_ no! This isn’t right!”

            “Batgirl, what isn’t right?”

            “There’s- no one’s here.” He heard her walking around, opening another crate, before she responded again.

            “There’s just… snake’s? Batman, the crates, they’re full of snakes. That’s the life form’s we detected. It’s a-.” Silence.

            “Batgirl. Red Hood. Respond.”

            The silence was starting to become annoyingly familiar.

            “Nightwing, get down their now.”

            “Yeah, that’s kind of the plan.”

            “Now, Dick! Red Robin, give him some assistance.”

            “Copy that.”

            “Alright, I’m just- what the hell?”

            A shrill alarm rang loud successively 3 times; Batman heard it over the comm and in the air; as quickly as it had happened though it had stopped. Below them, the mysterious figure laughed.

            “Ah, just as I predicted. It was a pleasure doing business with you two, _really_ it was, but it seems that a more formidable prospect has come along. Til next time.” He snapped again and then everything happened so quickly; the men flanking him each pulled a trigger from their pocket’s, pressed the button atop them, and each duffle bag exploded, money flying everywhere.

            Their opposing foes didn’t have any time to pull out their guns to defend themselves. Falcone, Black Mask, their men, and the trafficked people all blew backwards in the explosion. Batman’s HUB revealed that the blast was mild enough to knock them unconscious instead of killing them. After the flames and smoke subsided a bit, the mysterious figure and his two men were visible again, a blue aura emanated from them all; a shield.

            “Get ready Robin. Time to fight.”

            “Pfft- finally.”

            Batman and Robin took action immediately. They grapneled down and dropped right in front of the figure, Batman extending to his full height to come eye to eye with the hooded man. His smile was the only thing visible from below his hood.

            “Batman. I have been expecting you. Although, you were just playing coy with me, now weren’t you? I knew you were here all night, and don’t think I didn’t know of the presence of your little bat cronies on my ship. Nevertheless, it’s nice of you to finally join us.”

Batman didn’t hesitate to act.

He flung his hand out and grasped the figure by his throat, lifting him off the ground. There was the briefest moment where the figure clawed at his throat and choked, but it ended suddenly when the shield from before pulsed around his body, sending a high voltage shock through Batman’s body. He flew a few feet away from the figure, Robin calling after him. The loud _Batman_ coming from Robin’s throat was cut off and became muffled from what sounded like a hand covering his mouth.

“Ugh…” Batman rolled to his side and got on his hands and knees, his vision taking a second to stop moving from the shock he was just administered. Out of no where, he was yanked upward so he stood on just his knees, but this gave Batman the perfect advantage. He reached in his utility belt, grabbed a batarang, reached behind him to stab his assailant in the thigh, and swung around quickly, shoving his knee directly into his jaw sending the man crumpling to the floor in pain. He now saw that he had been attacked by one of the figure’s men, not the figure himself, while the other held Robin captive against his chest, his feet well off the ground. No sooner did he see this, Robin took the same cue and used the blades on his gauntlets to break free from his captor’s hold into his ribs. This sent the man stumbling backward, clutching at his abdomen in pain. Both men tried standing up to continue fighting, and when they succeeded, Batman and Robin initiated the final blows.

Batman dodged the prospective tackle from the man whose thigh he stabbed, turned around, used his grapnel to hook into his back, pulled him towards his awaiting elbow, and slammed him face-first into the ground; a deafening crunch followed the blow telling Batman he broke a few bones.

His vitals said he was unconscious.

He could hear Robin making quick work of the other man behind him. When he turned to see, Robin had climbed on top of the man’s shoulders and was covering his eyes with his hands, the man stumbling around blindly before attempting to throw Robin off. He leaned into the throw, tumbling down, and pulled the man down with him; his back hit the ground hard along with his head. His vitals read unconscious as well.

Robin came back to Batman’s side, and when they both turned to look at the man. He was just… smiling.

“Oh, it is _exhilarating_ to see you in action. It is even better than they say.” Before he could get any more words out, Batman threw down a smoke bomb. He quickly grapneled the figure’s ankle and shot the other end to the crane above them, leaving the startled figure dangling from where he hung.

When his movement settled and the smoke dissipated, Batman walked directly up to his face, which was at eye level with him. The hood on his head now hung limply, exposing dark, dark eyes. The figure just stared back. Not once, not even before when he was grapneled to the crane, did he scream or make any sound of discontent. He just wore the same damn smile, which looked like a frown now from his position, and kept staring without any fear into Batman’s eyes.

“Who are you?” He just laughed.

“Well wouldn’t you like to know. I would like the favor in return, but something tells me you aren’t that easy.” Batman swung his fist up and punched his cheek bone, catching his mouth in the process. Blood started to trickle down, past his nose, streaming right between his eyes. And he just… kept… smiling.

“You obviously used Black Mask and Falcone as decoys tonight. So tell me, what are your real plans?”

“My, my, you’re more curious then everyone let on. Which means you don’t know anything… at… all. You’ve fallen right into my little trap.” He leaned his body closer to Batman’s face, a mere few inches from his nose. “And just like the _hero_ that you are, you couldn’t resist what supple opportunity this night provided. Like a Icarus to the sun, you were drawn to the flames. But Batman, what you fail to notice is that you’ve already burned. All that remains… is ash.” Somewhere above him, Batman heard a faint click. He glanced up in time to see another trigger, similar to the one that the figure’s men had before, and another explosion set off in the crane’s cockpit. The crane came tumbling down in flames, but Batman quickly threw a batarang, cutting the rope that suspended the figure, clenching his clothing and ran, grabbed Robin and tucked him under his cape, and jumped before the crane could come crashing down on them. Once it hit the earth, a second explosion rocketed through the ground, sending the duo flying.

Once the shaking and flames had settled, Batman stood up and pulled Robin up with him. They both looked at the alit crane before them.

The mysterious figure was gone.

In the distance, faintly moving across the water, Batman could see the figure skittering across the dark waves in a small but fast boat. He was too far gone for Batman to retrieve him, and by the time he pursued chase, he’d be long gone. For now they had other, more pressing matters, to deal with. Batman somehow knew he’d hear more from this “figure” again in due time. This was a chance he had to let go.

“Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Robin, Red Hood. Respond.”

“Red Robin here. I went in after them when I saw you had the situation under control. I’m with Nightwing.” His voice sounded oddly somber.

“Status report. Now.”

“After that alarm sounded, we ran to the bottom deck but…”

“But what?” Batman was not in the mood for guessing games.

“Just, get aboard. You two need to see this.”

“We’re on our way.”

“Hurry, Bruce.” It was Nightwing this time, and his voice was riddled with… Was that pain he detected?

Behind Batman and Robin, they heard grunts and groans. Black Mask, Falcone, their men, and the trafficked people were all waking up. They both walked over to them and gave a light sedative to each member of Falcone and Black Mask’s men, including the two leaders, to keep them detained, disposing of their firearms; he put Robin in charge of moving the victims way from the scene and checking on their wellbeing. All the while, he was talking to GCPD Commissioner James Gordon.

“How many do you say?”

“Just bring a few vans. And Medical assistance; there’s people here who were held captive for who knows how long. I don’t know the full extent of the treatment they’ll need so just be wary.”

“They’re on their way.” Amongst the background noise of the city, Batman could hear the siren’s already blaring as they made their way to their position. “Thanks, as always, Batman. You’re service is appreciated. That’s another successful night for the books.” At that, the connection clicked off, and the only thought left in Batman’s mind was that the night was anything but.


End file.
